


Seek Always Peace

by Jovaughn



Category: Iron Fist (TV)
Genre: Adventure, Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, I ship Danny and Colleen so hard, iron fist - Freeform, kicking ass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-23 08:57:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10716255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jovaughn/pseuds/Jovaughn
Summary: Taking place after their journey to K'un L'un, Colleen and Danny search for answers in dangerous places.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I know that Marvel's "Iron Fist" (on Netflix) got a ton of mixed reviews, but I actually really loved it. Loved it might be an understatement.... considering I've watched it a million times already. I couldn't help but start a fan fiction. This takes place where the series left off and is my (totally made up) idea of what happens next. Hope you like it! P.s. Feedback is like crack to me so feel free to feed my habit :)

Seek Always Peace

Chapter 1

_Hi-yak! Oomph! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!_

Colleen Wing's knuckles were bleeding through her wraps. She wiped at her forehead sweat with the back of her bloody knuckles, embracing the pain.

She'd been at it for hours.

 _Thwack!_ Last punch. 

Sighing, dripping sweat, the pretty samurai exited the dojo and went into her tiny apartment.

She unraveled her bloody hand wraps and tossed them dismissively on a small, square table by her kitchenette. Defeated and tired, she took a seat and studied her hands with great interest. Anything to keep her mind preoccupied. If she was not careful, she could get lost in her thoughts and eventually fall headfirst into her buried emotions….and she wasn't so sure she could shovel her way out of that dark pit once there. 

Still, even with her mind transfixed attentively on her damaged hands, his stupid smiling face appeared at the forefront of her memory, Danny Rand. 

Overpowered by guilt, Danny vowed to find out what happened to K'un L'un. She assumed they'd do it together—up to this point they'd done it all together—but she woke up one morning and he was gone. He left. He left her after _everything_. She searched for him....went looking in all the dangerous places, but there was no sign of him or the Hand, even Gao, who was supposed to rot way in that room at the compound, was nowhere to be found. Claire was gone too, helping a friend. Colleen was completely and utterly….alone. 

Her hands went blurry. She blinked. She was standing at the edge of a dark pit, peering into a thick blackness that wanted to swallow her up.

 _Thwack!_ She punched the kitchen table. A cavity the size of her fist dented the wood. Searing pain infested her bones and mind, bringing her back to reality. The pain....she embraced it like a friend, her only friend. Regrettably, though, the distraction came and went.

She needed a better distraction.

The air smelt of sin: Sex, beer, blood, marijuana. She wasn't there for any of that bullshit though. The 6-foot high cage that reared above the masses of heads—that's what she had her eyes on. Dressed in a white pantsuit, she made her way through the rowdy crowd and went right up the steps that led into the ring. The leader's face lit up when he saw her. Grinning from ear to ear, he yelled at the crowd.

"An unexpected treat, folks!"

Colleen circled the cage, her adrenaline peeking as hundreds of dirty, drunk gambling mongrels chanted her name.

"The Daughter of the Dragon!"

The cheers swelled.

"Who will be the brave soul to take her on?"

Colleen skimmed the crowd.

"Nobody?! Come on you bunch of pussies!" The announcer screamed.

Come on, she thought. She needed this. She _needed_ this. She skimmed the crowd again. Nobody was stepping up.

"Triple to whoever grows some balls and challenges the Daughter of the Dragon!"

At that moment, a figure appeared from the crowd and stood at the entrance of the cage. Much like Colleen's, his face was hidden behind a black hoodie. She fell back to the other side of the ring as he stepped up. The crowed was going wild as the announcer asked the opponent his name.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have an opponent…he calls himself….Bakuto!"

Colleen's heart dropped. No, this can't be, she wrestled with the impossible possibility. As he lowered his hood, she had no choice but to accept it. He was alive and well, smirking at her, eyes twinkling with mock and ridicule. 

Anger seared inside her, burning up all the reservations she may have had before. She would not hold back this time. She was going to tear his head off. Without pausing, she attacked.

The announcer ran to the exit, saying, "This is going to be a good one…"

He locked the cage behind him.

 _Hi-yak!_ She punched but he blocked.

 _Oomph!_ He kicked her in the back and she went flying. She caught her footing, turning right as his fist come down on her head.

 _Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!_ Back and forth they spared, neither of them weaning.

"I am pleasantly surprised at how far you have come, Colleen," said Bakuto when they broke a part.

 _Hi-yak! Oomph! Thwack!_ Punch. Kick. Block. Tiger fist. _Thwack! Thwack!_

 _Crack!_ She landed a blow right to his nose. Blood gushed.

 _Crack!_ He got her back, her nose bucking under the pressure of his fist. Blood trickled from her nostrils down into her mouth, salty and warm.

Suddenly, a realization came over her.

He knows. He knows what happened at K'un L'un.

 _Hi-yak! Oomph! Thwack!_ Tapping into her utmost power, she landed a high-kick to the side of his head, then a low-quick to his middle-section, a punch to the side of cheek and a harder punch to his chin as he fell to the ground.

"What happened to K'un L'un?!" she demanded, straddling him, tiger-fist pulled behind her head, ready to come down hard on his face.

He laughed, his smile revealing a bloody mouth. "You are much too slow at making hard decisions." Before she could thwart the smooth exchange, he flipped their stances . This time she was on the ground and he had the tiger fist, only he didn't pause.

Her world went hazy as he landed the blow.

He drew back to hit her again. _Thwack!_ Her world was getting darker.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she could see something glowing.

Chains rattled nearby.

The crowd fell silent as her world went completely black.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Colleen Wing woke up in luxuriously soft sheets. Groggy and sore, she hoisted herself to her elbows and glanced around, confused. Bloody dressings, aspirin and a half-empty glass of water sat on an expensive-looking night table next to the bed. She moaned as she sat up straight. Her head was pounding, but she pushed through the dizziness and pain and tried to defog her mind.

“Danny?” she called out, as her last memory came to. Paying no attention to the strong protest her tender body uttered, she shot out of bed. 

She hurried out of the foreign bedroom, into a vast open space decorated in posh, tasteful decor. 

Ward Meachum stood peering out a massive window nearby, back turned, hands deep in the pockets of his fancy slacks. 

“Ward?” Colleen said, confused. 

He turned to look at her, indifference shining in his eyes. “Oh, hey,” he said awkwardly. “You’re up.” 

“Where is Danny?” 

“He isn’t here,” Ward answered obviously. 

“What’s going on?” she said, crossing her arms around her chest, disappointment pulling her lips down into a frown. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Danny called me….told me to come over here and check on you.” 

Her initial reaction was to ask where “here” was exactly, but instead she said, “You’ve been in contact with Danny?” 

“He called me tonight for the first time in months.” 

“He was at the ring….Bakuto…he is alive…and we were fighting…I was losing and then….Danny. He brought me here. Where is he?” 

“Ring? Bakuto?” stammered Ward, confused. “I don’t know where Danny is…or what is going on…I just came by to make sure you are ok, like Danny asked me to.” 

A thought came suddenly. “Let me see your phone.” 

“My phone?”

Colleen was at Ward’s side in a second, hand out. “Yes, your cell phone. I need to see it.” 

“Okay,” he handed it to her reluctantly. 

Contacts. Danny Rand. Message. COME QUICK. COLLEEN IN TROUBLE. A small part of Colleen felt guilty for the lie, but a much bigger—and much more hurt—part of her was sweetly satisfied. 

She handed Ward’s phone back. “Don’t you _dare_ tell him I’m okay,” she warned, “or I will find you and kick your ass. You can leave now…I’ll be fine.”

She walked back to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, letting out an exasperated breath as her mind started to turn. Bakuto is alive—and he kicked her ass. _He didn’t kick your ass,_ Colleen argued with herself. Up until the end, she had him, but she let her excitement at the possibility of finding out what happened to K’un L'un fog her senses, distract her. The glowing light she saw before she passed out—it had to have belonged to the Iron Fist. The costly room in which she sat in now was a testimony to that. But what happened when she went KO? And has Danny been watching her from afar? Where is he? She had a million questions.  


Restless, she returned to the living room. The huge series of windows let in a truly miraculous view of the city. She looked down at all the buildings and lights and cars glowing under a midnight, starless sky. So many people, so many broken lives, hers being one of them. 

Finally, and to Colleen’s wonderful relief, the front door, far behind her, flew open. 

Danny Rand came running in, eyes, entire body, riddled with fear. “Colleen!” he called out, and then he saw her, standing by the window, safe. His stance changed entirely. Confusion.

She was relieved to see him, however angry and confused. For weeks she dreamed about kicking his ass, hard, but now, with him in reach, she found herself completely paralyzed by a undefinable sensation, which grew stronger as he drew closer. 

“Ward said…” he began. 

“That was me,” she admitted. “I didn’t know what else to do, Danny. I had to get you here.” 

He was close enough now…she could punch him. She really wanted to, but his face…it was such a nice view, so much more beautiful than the broken city sparkling behind them. 

“I’m glad you’re ok,” said Danny, reaching out to run his fingers gently over a bruise on her cheek.

She closed her eyes at his touch. “I missed you so much,” she told him softly, and then she was hugging him. She placed her face against his hard chest and breathed him in. She wanted to cry but also wanted to be strong, so she tried her best to keep a straight face as he caressed the top of her silky head. 

She drew back slightly. “Why did you leave?”

Though her grip was strong on his waist, he broke away, pushing past her to stand in front of the window, a look of trepidation twisting up his handsome features. 

“I had to.” Danny stared hard at the ground. 

“Without me?” Colleen took her spot next to him. 

“Yes,” he answered, eyes still transfixed on the lavish carpet. 

“Is that carpet tap dancing or something?” she said sarcastically. “Look at me, damn it, and tell me why you left without a word.” 

He glanced up, staring at her the same way he stared at the spot in the Himalayas where K’un L'un once stood. The same way he probably stared at what was left of that horrible childhood plane crash….his dad dead in the snow. Harold with a pole through his gut. Guilt. So much guilt. “As long as you’re around me you’re in danger…I can’t think about…what if something happens to you?” 

“Don’t fucking do that!” Colleen responded brutally. 

“Do what?” Danny asked, bewildered. 

“That cliché superhero bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit, Colleen,” he retailed, “it’s fact. People like me…we can’t…be close to anything…”

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, after all the loss he had endured, his fear was understandable, and plausible, but she was much too head-strong to let him be the sole decision-maker here, especially since the decision impacted her so drastically. “We are partners. You made that decision the day you walked into my dojo and recruited me to stand by your side. You don’t get to walk away now.” 

“I can’t lose you!” 

Danny let out a half growl-half sigh and turned frustratingly away from her, his iron fist clenched at his side. 

Colleen took a deep breath and approached him slowly. As angry as she was, she needed to get through to him. Placing her hand gently on his back, she whispered softly, “You’re all I have.” She could feel his heart racing. She thought about the blood rushing through his veins, the warmth of his chi, the fullness of the uncorrupt power he harnessed. She closed her eyes and drank it all in…it was unexplainable…the high she experienced every time she connected with him. “I have never felt this way…”

“Me eith—“

“No,” she interrupted him. “Danny…you have been gone for two months… and I’ve been dead inside ever since. I don’t know…I feel…connected to you…like…I have to be near you. When I’m not, all there is...is this ledge…and I’m standing on it…ready to jump into complete darkness rather than live without you. You told me that maybe you could be more than just a destroyer as the Iron Fist--that you want to bring light to people trapped in darkness. Well, here I am, trapped in the dark.... so be my light. I’ve never been this fucking honest with anybody in my entire life…so please, stay.” 

“Colleen….”

““Danny….I want you to stay.”

He turned at those words, remembering them just as she did. “I want to…” With gentle passion, he placed his hands on either side of her face. She could see his former plan—a plan she dreaded, a plan she needed him to forget—fading. 

“Kiss me…please, just kiss me,” she begged. 

With his warm hands still on her face, he gazed at her, his bright eyes piercing into hers like a sharp knife. “I can’t,” he said, “not until I tell you where I’ve been….and what I’ve done.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the feedback! This one was really fun to write. I hope you enjoy it. Shout out to fannishliss for helping me with the typos in Chapter 2. Disclaimer: mature content in this one.

Tanya Sealy loved the color green. It was a solid color, the most common in the world, a rejuvenating depiction of rebirth, abundance, wealth and progress. Many believed it to be a calming but powerful shade. Because of that, she wore the same emerald green mini dress every single time she answered a call.

Prepping, she ran her hands down the tight material, smoothing out any last-minute creases. Green was her color, definitely. She smiled brightly, shook her long, dark hair so that it fell sexily over her tan, freshly moisturized shoulders, and inserted a plastic key card into the lock of hotel room number 206.

Her client was standing by a desk near a curtained window, pouring bourbon into two crystal glasses. He wore black slacks and a white untucked dress shirt with the top three buttons unfastened, revealing a disturbingly hairy chest. A 9mm sat by the bourbon bottle, safety off. 

“Hey there,” she beamed, revealing a warm, trusting smile.

“Hey yourself,” the man replied huskily, handing her a drink as she came up to him. “You’re prettier than the last one.”

She laughed. “Flattery will only get you so far.”

“Feisty.” He wrapped his rather large lips around the rim of his drinking glass and took a small sip. With his free hand, he pulled out a wad of cash from the depths of his pants and flashed it before her eyes, grinning like he stole Christmas. “I like it.”

He took another sip of his bourbon and slipped the cash back in his pocket.

“My momma always told me a man loves a girl with an attitude.” She took a swig of her drink too. _Aaahh_. The burn was nice. “Is that true?”

“Depends on who you ask. I, for one,” he gave her the once over, “find it sexy.” 

"Well then..." She took his drink, put it down with hers on the table, and closed the gap between them. His breath, fresh with the smell of bourbon and spearmint gum, hot on her face. Smiling big, she wrapped her arms around his thick neck and put her fire-engine red lips to his ear. “What are you waiting for?”

The kiss was wet and sloppy (as they usually were), but Tanya didn’t mind. She got a staggering high from it. Not the kiss, per-say, and definitely not the sex, but the power. She was in complete control, could get him unbelievably hard—to the point he was going to burst—and then just walk away, leaving him with blue balls and no money….but she had other plans for this one.

Breaking their lip lock, Tanya giggled, then pushed him down onto the king-size bed. Standing over him, she kicked off her high heels and shimmied deviously out of her emerald dress.

Like a lioness prowling through tall weeds, she climbed atop him slowly, her bare skin skimming across his entirety.  


“Damn,” he moaned, when she unzipped his pants and took him in her soft hand. Up...down...up...down, she stroked him. 

He closed his eyes, enjoying the ecstasy of her touch. _Hah_ , she laughed to herself. Too easy.

“Let’s have some fun,” she whispered foxily, releasing his manhood.

She sat on his stomach with her knees on either side of him, ass right at the tip of his junk. Like a desperate schoolboy, he reached up to play with her big, round tits, flicking his thumbs back and forth across her hard nipples.

“We are having fun,” he cooed.

“A different kind of fun…”

She smiled wickedly. “Don’t worry…this won’t hurt…much."

Suddenly, a dark green mist began to permeate from her skin, swathing all around them like fog on a lake. The man began to squirm uncomfortably beneath her. “Ughh!” he screamed, an odd, trance-like haze occupying his wide pupils. "No! What are you doing!? Don’t do that. Ah! Ah!”

A vicious look of utter enjoyment twinkled in Tanya’s green eyes as she watched the man wiggle beneath her, gulping in the her paralyzing mist with every frightened squeal. He would have no control of his limbs at this point. No control over anything.

“Stop! Please! Stop!”

In reality, he was lying in the hotel bed with a limp dick and a stupid look on his face, but in his mind.... in his mind he was bloody. In his mind, she was cutting his testicles with a sharp knife, a gun to his head. 

Casually, unaffected by his horror-stricken face, she reached into his pocket and took hold of the wad of cash. “Oh, I’ll stop…if you tell me what I want to know.”

She climbed off him, but he stayed glued to the bed, paralyzed, bug-eyed and crying, deep under the impression he was being brutally tortured.

She slipped back into her favorite emerald green dress and went to the table by the window. Bourbon. Not her favorite, but good enough for a buzz. “Smooth,” she said after gulping down the rest of her drink. 

“Ahhhh!!!” His screams were growing louder; she’d be gone by the time someone came for help.

“I’ll tell you…I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

Works.Every.Time.

“Tell me…where can I find Bakuto?”

 

Danny was being tensely hesitant.

“Just tell me what you’ve done,” Colleen urged. “Whatever it is…I can handle it.”

They had been sitting on the edge of the couch for a while now, Colleen trying to get his secrets out, Danny unstable in his choice to come clean.

“I just don’t want you to see me different,” he admitted.

“Danny, I won’t,” she assured him.

“I didn’t tell you where I was going because…” he started, “...ugh!” He jumped up with a look of complete disdain. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to talk me out of it.”

“Talk you out of what?” She stayed seated on the couch, head pounding. She could take a slight ass kicking, but she could hardly handle the emotional roller coaster Danny was making her ride right now.

“What I knew I had to do,” said Danny. “I tracked down one of your old students…a girl…I kidnapped her, thought maybe one of the kids from Bakuto’s compound would show up eventually, you know, to rescue her, if she reached out. I made her reach out.”

“And?”

“Someone showed up.” Danny closed his eyes. “Darryl.”

Her heart dropped, the image of a dead Darryl flashing in her mind’s eye. “Did you kill him?”

“No,” he said, “of course not.” He sat down next to her on the couch. “But it wasn’t pretty.”

“Did he tell you anything?”

“No.”

“So where he is now?”

Danny looked down, ashamed.

“Danny…”

“I’ve been trying to persuade him, but he doesn’t trust me.”

Colleen knew where this was going and she was angry about it. “So you were going to, what? Forget you ever met me…at least until you needed something?”

“What? No,” said Danny, shaking his head.

“That’s why you were there tonight…you came to find me so that I can get information out of Darryl.”

“If I hadn’t been there Bakuto would have killed you.” 

She was somewhat perturbed with him but needed to know the facts. “What happened after I passed out?”

“We fought. He escaped.” Danny took her hand. Something like electricity shot throughout every bit of her. “I know I’ve been a jerk. I’ve been selfish. Ever since K’un L’un, I can hardly sleep or eat or think. I need to find out what happened so that I can move on….so that we can move on.”

“Can’t we just do that now? Can’t we just put this all behind us and go away, just the two of us, and start over…”

“Colleen…I’m the…”

“Iron Fist, I know.”

Irritated, she rose from the couch and went into the bedroom. Mind turning, body aching, she snatched up the aspirin bottle on the bedside table and shook four small pills out into her palm. She was swallowing them down when Danny came in. He stood close behind her, the warmth of his presence stupefying.

They didn’t exchange any words, but Danny drew closer, closing the gap between them. From behind, he placed his arms lovingly around her and kissed her soft, tan shoulder blade. She was mad at him but found herself enjoying his sweet affections. Once more, he kissed her shoulder…and then moved to kiss her neck…

Hands wandering, captivated by desire, he gripped the rim of her shirt and began to pull it up, but paused. 

"It's okay," she voiced her approval. 

Once her shirt was discarded, Danny ran his fingers gently down her shoulders, past her ribs and hips, pausing again, at the rim of her pantsuit. 

She shivered pleasantly beneath his erotic touch and helped him to shed what was left of her clothes.

“You are so perfect,” he whispered into her ear.

Sweepingly overcome by a ravenous desire for him, she turned, moaning as his mouth covered hers. He tasted so sweet, so unbelievably sweet…and she wanted more…much, much more.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the feedback! Sorry it took a bit to get this one out...I've been spending way too much time watching Finn Jones on Instagram live. 
> 
> I hope you like this one (it's a little short so I promise to make the next update longer)-- let me know what you think in the comments. 
> 
> Much love.

Danny felt cursed long before he became the Iron Fist. From the moment he woke up in the freezing Himalayan snow--remembering the horrific image of his mother being sucked out of an airplane rooftop--he knew he was destined to carry a heavy ball and chain.

Since the disappearance of K’un L’un the Iron Fist carried the same weary load. Guilt. Resentment.

 _Dwelling weakens your chi_ , he reminded himself, so he put all his focus on the bare back of Colleen Wing. She was fast asleep, had been for awhile. He studied the rhythm of her breathing with a slight smile. Watching her back rise and fall with each perfect inhale and exhale was hypnotizing, or maybe it was her energy that was hypnotizing, her vibrant life force, the sweet smell of her essence. He was completely transfixed and that was utterly terrifying.

The feelings he had for her were unexplainable, mystifying, but intensely euphoric.

She was everything to him, which made living a bit scarier. If anything ever happened to her…he reached over to trace his finger tips gently down her back. Her skin was splendidly smooth, lips soft like silk….and the way he felt when he was inside her…he could explode just thinking about it.

“Mmmmm,” she hummed, responding delightedly to his touch. He wrapped his arms around her as she inched closer to cuddled up against his marked chest. 

"Don't leave me," she mumbled, her breath warm on his flesh. 

"I won't," he assured her, though a small part of him knew that might not be true. He would leave her if it meant saving her. For now, though, he would stay and enjoy the time they had. 

Danny daydreamed more often than he should; it got him in repeated trouble with Master Khan.

At the present moment, he was daydreaming about a much different life...a life in which his parents never died. There, in his mind's alternate reality, he runs Rand with his father and the Meachums. Colleen Wing is a volunteer at one of their charities. Everything she does, and the love she does it with, is perfect. He is secretly in love with her but doesn't have the courage to ask her out. His mom knows and encourages him to "just to go for it".

Danny woke up to Colleen slipping out of bed. He fell asleep daydreaming. 

"What are you doing?" he asked sweetly, watching her wonder around the room, fetching discarded undergarments. 

The morning sun was peeking through a curtained window to the left of them. 

"Getting ready," replied Colleen.

"For what?" 

She looked at him as if it should have been obvious. 

"For answers...after a quick pit stop. I need my katana. I feel naked without it."

"You are naked," he pointed out.

They chuckled together. 

 

Danny paced outside of a small storage garage. The door was bright orange and identical to about a hundred others.

“Oh, Danny,” Colleen said dejectedly, starring at the unit with a distraught look of panic, katana slung securely over her shoulder. 

“I’ve feed him,” he said with a defensive tone, “and taken him to use the bathroom.” 

“Just,” Colleen sighed, “open the damn door.”

Danny fished in his pocket for the padlock key and tried to ignore Colleen’s burning gaze as he bent over to stick it into its lock. He must have been moving too slow because she cut in front of him to snatch the lock off herself. With serious aggression, she jerked up on the door handle and slipped into the cemented space.

A 10-foot wide spotlight attached to a tripod was turned on in the corner so that the entire unit was lit up. Darryl, Colleen’s favorite former student, was tied to a chair in the middle of the room, looking more angry than anxious.

Colleen turned on Danny at the sight of him. “Danny, what the hell!”

“I told you it wasn’t pretty! But he knows where Bakuto is!”

“I’ll never tell you!” spat Darryl.

They both ignored him.

“There are other ways,” said Colleen seriously. “We will figure it out together….but not like this.”

She moved toward Darryl.

“I thought you said you were ready to find answers,” accused Danny from behind her. He didn’t like what it had come down to anymore than she did, but he was the Iron Fist and he had a duty to fulfill. He had failed once. He wasn’t going to fail again.

“Not like this…he is just a kid, Danny. My student.”

“I’m not your student,” Darryl cut in, peering at Colleen with leery suspicion as she bent down behind him.

Danny shook his head. “I wasn’t going to kill him,” he mumbled, more to himself than to her.

“I’m sorry you got brought into all of this,” Colleen told Darryl, loosening the tight knots binding his wrists and ankles. “It’s my fault. I told you that you are a part of something much bigger than yourself, and it’s true, only I sent you to the wrong side.”

The ropes bounding him to the chair fell to the floor.

Still suspicious, Darryl stood up, watching them intently as he retreated to the exit.

Danny took his spot next to Colleen, annoyed but overpowered by his concern for her feelings.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I promise we will figure something out.”

“If you say so.” Danny didn’t know what else to say as he stood and watched his chance of finding Bakuto slip away.

“Why?” They were both shocked to see Darryl drop the handle on the garage door and turn around. "Why are you doing this? I trusted you. I trusted both of you."

Colleen spoke first. "I was a child when I found Bakuto and the safehaven he ran. His words, his compassion and wisdom, the code, healed my broken heart. Before him, I was just a scared, hurt girl with a dead mother, a jerk-of-a-father and an old grandfather who couldn't take care of me. I had nobody and nothing so I dedicated my entire life to the code, to Bakuto, thinking it was the right thing to do, but I was lied to and you are being lied to. Danny and I are the good guys, Darryl. Deep down, I think you know that." 

Colleen was compassionately persuasive and it touched Danny's soul, so much so that he couldn't help but reach over to lay his hand on her shoulder. 

"What do you mean being lied to?" Darryl questioned. 

"Bakuto is using the code as a way to manipulate young men and women so that they do his bidding without question. Bad bidding. Murder. Drug dealing. He is a glorified crime boss in hiding." Danny explained. 

"Drug dealing?" Darryl said in disbelief. 

"Heroine," said Danny.

"A lot of it," Colleen chimed in. "I've seen it myself. He tried to have me killed...he shot a friend of Danny's."

"My fifteen-year-old cousin died of a heroin overdose...and my uncle..." he said absentmindedly, everything they were telling him turning in his head. 

"Help us stop him," Danny encouraged. 

"You will be on the right side if you do," said Colleen. 

"Will they hurt me if I tell you?" 

"I'm a billionaire. I will send you and your family to a place where they can't find you...a really nice place...with money to last you a lifetime." 

"No," Darryl refused. "Teach me how to fight like you instead." 

Colleen and Danny shared a quick, excited glance. 

"Okay," Danny agreed. "I can do that. Now tell us...where can we find Bakuto?"


End file.
